Seventeen members of an Iran-based hacking operation have been <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/17-iranians-charged-conducting-massive-cyber-theft-campaign-behalf-islamic-revolutionary">charged</a> in a massive cyber theft campaign that prosecutors say targeted hundreds of universities and other institutions around the world, stealing more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property in attacks conducted in part on behalf of Iran&#8217;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A 14-count superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday in New York describes a campaign that began around 2013 and continued through at least late 2017. Prosecutors say the Mabna Institute targeted more than 100,000 professor accounts and successfully compromised roughly 8,000 of them at 144 U.S. universities and 178 universities in other countries.
Once inside the accounts, the hackers allegedly stole research papers, theses, dissertations, academic journals, and other materials. U.S. universities spent more than $3.4 billion to license and obtain the kind of research and intellectual property taken by the defendants, according to prosecutors.
Nine of the defendants were first charged in 2018. The new filing adds eight more defendants and, according to the Justice Department, reveals a broader network behind the operation.
“[A]t the behest of entities including the IRGC, these defendants hacked into universities and other research institutions worldwide, including the United States, stealing at least 31 terabytes of information and intellectual property of untold value,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said. 
According to the indictment, Gholamreza Rafatnejad and Ehsan Mohammadi founded the Mabna Institute around 2013 “to assist Iranian universities and scientific and research organizations in stealing access to non-Iranian scientific resources.” The company later contracted with a network of hackers for hire to carry out the intrusions.
The hackers allegedly used stolen credentials to access university library systems and moved the stolen academic material to servers outside the United States.
Some of the stolen information was later sold to customers inside Iran through two websites connected to one of the defendants. One site offered the stolen materials directly, while another allowed customers to use compromised professor accounts to access university library systems.
The alleged operation extended beyond universities. Members of the network also compromised employee email accounts at private companies and government offices, with victims including at least 42 U.S. companies, 11 foreign companies, five U.S. federal and state agencies, and two non-governmental organizations. 
Targets included the Department of Labor, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the states of Hawaii and Indiana, the United Nations, and the United Nations Children&#8217;s Fund.
Several of the defendants were also allegedly involved in the 2017 hack of HBO, in which hackers stole proprietary data and attempted to extort the company for roughly $6 million in bitcoin. Behzad Mesri was previously charged in connection with hacking HBO systems.
In other attacks against private companies and government entities, prosecutors say some of the defendants used techniques that caused victims to rack up more than $20 million in investigation and remediation costs. 
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $10 million for any information leading to the location of five of the defendants.

Iran, Pro-government Protest Rally In Tehran

17 Iranian Hackers Charged In Massive U.S. University Cybertheft Scheme

American Universities

Cybercrime

Cybersecurity

Iran

IRGC

WASHINGTON — A man who identifies as a transgender woman has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for plotting to kill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, yet another example of a trans-identifying individual who plotted politically motivated violence.
Twenty-five-year-old Ryan Michael English (who goes by Reily or Raleigh Jane English) of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in March to weapons charges stemming from a plot to assassinate Bessent. On Tuesday, a judge sentenced English to 73 months and 36 months of supervised release, according to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/massachusetts-resident-sentenced-attempt-assassinate-cabinet-member-nominee-us-capitol">Justice Department</a>.
His gender identity was not publicly known until Tuesday, when court documents and testimony showed that English identifies as a woman.
Though prosecutors asked for 10 years, Judge Rudolph Contreras rejected the government&#8217;s request for a maximum sentence, a person who attended the proceedings told The Daily Wire. The judge highlighted that English identifies as transgender and took into account that English&#8217;s family did not accept his gender identity, saying that English had suffered because of this.
The government had argued that English should receive the maximum sentence to send a message that political violence is unacceptable. But Contreras rejected the government’s request, saying this was a low-visibility case and wouldn&#8217;t deter political violence because few people would learn about it.
According to the attendee, Contreras also asked prosecutors what message President Donald Trump&#8217;s pardons of January 6 defendants and efforts to establish a fund to compensate them sent about deterring political violence.
Contreras also said he would recommend housing English in a women&#8217;s prison, according to the attendee. A separate source familiar with the matter told The Daily Wire that English still has male genitalia.
English had approached a Capitol Police officer near the south door of the Capitol building on January 27, 2025, and said, &#8220;I&#8217;d like to turn myself in,&#8221; then admitted to possessing a knife and two Molotov cocktails, according to court documents. After officers searched English, they found that he had a folding knife and two improvised incendiary devices in his pockets, as well as a green lighter.
“I was going to kill Scott Bessent,&#8221; he admitted after he was handcuffed, according to authorities. He also told them: &#8220;For everything I’ve said, yes, I was going to kill a man in cold blood who I never met, yes.&#8221;
English struggled with his physical health, mental health, and substance abuse, the court filings state.
He told investigators that before focusing on Bessent, he had considered killing other government officials, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, or attacking a Washington think tank, which Fox News identified as the Heritage Foundation. After seeing Bessent on TV while at a library in the D.C. area, he changed his mind and decided to kill the Treasury Secretary.
Brian Phillips, Vice President of Communications at the Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Wire, &#8220;We are grateful to law enforcement for getting these lunatics off the street. As always, vigilance is the price of freedom.”
<div id="attachment_1160321" style="width: 872px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/transgender-identifying-man-sought-to-kill-scott-bessent/senate-confirmation-hearings-for-us-president-elect-donald-trumps-nominees" rel="attachment wp-att-1160321"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1160321" class="wp-image-1160321 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2194287780-862x576.jpg" alt="" width="862" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2194287780-862x576.jpg 862w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2194287780-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2194287780-768x513.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2194287780.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 862px) 100vw, 862px" /></a>Scott Bessent speaks during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen building on January 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;Judith dear god I am so sorry,&#8221; English wrote in a note recovered by authorities, according to court documents. &#8220;You must understand I can feel myself dying slowly b/c of my heart. This is terrible but I can&#8217;t do nothing while nazis kill my sisters. I love you. This is awful. Im so sorry. I love u. Please stay alive and heal. you can. you are strong enough. F*ck them for pushing us so far. you don&#8217;t deserve this. Im so sorry for lying and plotting and lying. Please survive.&#8221;
That message was written on a receipt and accompanied by drawings of seven hearts, according to court documents. English also had the words &#8220;NO FUTURE NO CHOICE&#8221; handwritten on his arm.
When officers asked him why he was in Washington, he told them, &#8220;pretty much the words on my arms say everything.&#8221;
He also revealed that he was inspired by Luigi Mangione, the man accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
&#8220;I was planning on burning down [a Washington, D.C.-based think tank] which is near the White House,&#8221; he told authorities, the court documents show.
&#8220;I was going to go there under the guise of I applied for an internship&#8230;I was going to go to the [think tank], tell them what they wanted to hear, and basically say that I was &#8216;oh I was emailing with [individual-1] for a while, oh it must have been a scam, oh that&#8217;s so unfortunate&#8217; and introduce myself&#8230;.&#8221;
English detailed that he was trying to think of ways to meet a certain individual within the think tank and kill them &#8220;for revenge,&#8221; and if not, he was planning on &#8220;burning down the building.&#8221;
&#8220;I was making all of these plans in my head of what I could do,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If all else fails, I was going to slit my wrists on the White House steps. Just because that&#8217;s all you can do if you can&#8217;t hurt anyone else and you&#8217;re out of options and you&#8217;re out of time and you need to have an outlet and you need to show people how serious it is and you need to make one dramatic f*cking thing.&#8221;
English also told authorities that he had considered staking out Washington and looking for opportunities to harm &#8220;big players,&#8221; according to the filings.
English said he fixated on Bessent after seeing him on television, then stumbling on a Reddit post about Bessent saying the federal minimum wage should not be increased. &#8220;I believe he&#8217;s a billionaire &#8230;&#8221; English told authorities. He was particularly bothered by how Bessent smiled as he said the minimum wage should not be increased from $7.25.
&#8220;He said it with a smile on his face and that got under my skin &#8230; and this is how I decide who deserves to live or die right? Because I don&#8217;t get to make that decision, but it&#8217;s as if they&#8217;re making it for themself.&#8221;
English is one of a number of trans-identifying individuals who have been implicated in plots or acts of violence targeting Americans over politics or religion in recent years. The Daily Wire reported in September 2025 that Nicholas Roske, the man who attempted to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-attempted-kavanaugh-assassin-identifies-as-transgender-woman-legal-filings-show">identifies as a transgender woman</a> and was deeply mentally ill and suicidal.
On August 27, 2025, trans-identifying shooter Robert Westman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-we-know-about-the-trans-identifying-gunman-who-slaughtered-catholic-school-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed Catholic school children</a> in Minnesota before taking his own life. Westman’s attack came just two years after another trans-identifying killer targeted Christian school children in Nashville.
In May, Sebastian Gorka, the senior director for counterterrorism at the White House National Security Council, told The Daily Wire that the new White House Counter Terrorism Strategy includes “rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups,” including those subscribing to transgender ideology.
Gorka slammed previous administrations for ignoring real threats while weaponizing agencies against Americans, saying that &#8220;Americans have witnessed the politically motivated killings of Christians and conservatives increasingly committed by violent Left-wing extremists, including the assassination of my friend Charlie Kirk by a radical who espoused extremist transgender ideologies.&#8221;

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Testifies To Senate Finance Committee On Treasury Dept’s Budget

Transgender-Identifying Man Sought To Kill Scott Bessent

Heritage Foundation

Scott Bessent

Transgender

Attorney General Todd Blanche is launching a new federal process that could give as many as 30 million Americans a pathway to regain their Second Amendment rights, reviving a mechanism that has been effectively unavailable for more than three decades.
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-blanche-launches-new-process-restore-federal-firearm-rights">finalized a rule</a> Monday establishing a process for individuals prohibited from possessing firearms to petition the federal government to restore their firearm rights.
“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and the federal government should not permanently deprive Americans of a constitutional right without regard to whether they pose a danger to public safety,” Blanche said. “This rule establishes a rigorous, commonsense process that protects the public while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been unable to process such applications since 1992, when Congress prohibited the agency from using appropriated funds for that purpose. Congress authorized the attorney general to restore firearm rights under Section 925(c). The new Justice Department program establishes a separate process through which eligible individuals can apply for relief.
U.S. Pardon Attorney Edward Martin said the new program provides a pathway for approximately 30 million Americans who have lost their Second Amendment rights. “President Trump keeps making history — this time by his unprecedented restoration of firearms rights to millions of Americans,” Martin said. “Over the past months, we have worked at the direction of Attorney General Todd Blanche to build a program to give a pathway for restoration for the 30 million Americans who have lost their Second Amendment rights.”
The rule does not automatically restore firearm rights to anyone currently prohibited from possessing a gun. Instead, applicants will have to demonstrate to the attorney general’s satisfaction that the circumstances leading to their firearm prohibition, combined with their record, reputation, and subsequent conduct, show they will not act in a manner dangerous to public safety. The Justice Department will review applications individually and maintain strong presumptions against granting relief to people considered to pose heightened risks to public safety.
&#8220;Each applicant must establish to the Attorney General’s satisfaction that the circumstances giving rise to the prohibition, together with the applicant’s record, reputation, and subsequent conduct, demonstrate that the applicant is not likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that granting relief would not be contrary to the public interest,&#8221; according to the press release from the DOJ.
Absent extraordinary circumstances, violent felons, registered sex offenders, illegal aliens, and others who present an ongoing danger will remain presumptively ineligible. It will not override independent restrictions imposed by state law.
The National Rifle Association, which has long advocated for restoring firearm rights to people who have completed their sentences and are not considered dangerous, welcomed the announcement while noting that it had sought several changes to the final rule.
“NRA has long championed full restoration of Second Amendment rights for individuals who paid their debts to society and who are not demonstrably dangerous to public safety,” John Commerford, Executive Director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, told The Daily Wire. “While the final rule falls short on a few of these suggestions, it is an important step in the right direction.”
“As ever, we will continue our advocacy to ensure no American is unduly deprived of the right to keep and bear arms,” Commerford concluded.
Federal law bars various categories of people from possessing firearms, with felony convictions among the most common grounds for a federal firearm disability. The restrictions have increasingly come under scrutiny following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle &amp; Pistol Association v. Bruen, which established that modern firearm regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
Individuals seeking restoration of their federal firearm rights can access eligibility information, application instructions, and the Justice Department&#8217;s application process through the Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Program.

US-WEAPONS-STORE

Trump Admin Takes Aim At Decades Old Roadblock To Restoring Gun Rights

Attorney General

Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)

firearms

National Rifle Association (NRA)

Second Amendment

Todd Blanche

Trump Administration

In a seemingly partisan attack on Sunday morning television, &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; host Kristen Welker badgered Attorney General Todd Blanche over whether he would pledge to remain completely &#8220;independent&#8221; from President Donald Trump.
Welker grilled Blanche on his past as Trump’s personal defense attorney, demanding to know if the Department of Justice would operate free from White House influence, querying, “You of course used to be President Trump’s former personal defense attorney. Can you pledge that the Justice Department will always act independently of the White House?”
Blanche shot back, rejecting the premise of her question entirely. “No, I’m not going to pledge that,” he declared. “And no attorney general should ever pledge that. &#8230; If I were to pledge I will be independent of the White House, what that means is that if President Trump says, ‘I want the Department of Justice to go after every violent criminal in this country’ — which is what he has said — what you’re saying to me is I should say, ‘No, sir, I’m not going to do it.’&#8221;
“This narrative that’s mostly pushed by the Left and pushed by the media that the president’s going to pull me aside and ask me to do something illegal is completely a false narrative, not true, will not happen, and hasn’t happened,” he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Obama’s bagman Eric Holder would like a word&#8230;
Meet the Press is a joke. <a href="https://t.co/7WN8GsICmL">https://t.co/7WN8GsICmL</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://x.com/SteveGuest/status/2089102371850801388?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Yet, while the media routinely obsesses over hypothetical concerns regarding Trump&#8217;s control over the Justice Department, conservative critics point to history, arguing that the double standard is glaring. Under the previous administration, President Barack Obama used Attorney General Eric Holder and the DOJ as political weapons to advance a partisan agenda and bypass constitutional limitations.
While news anchors now demand strict walls between the White House and the DOJ, legal scholars and conservative watchdogs posited that rather than acting as an independent officer sworn to uphold the U.S. Constitution, Holder functioned as Obama&#8217;s personal defense attorney and political operative. During that era, the DOJ selectively enforced laws, as it chose not to enforce federal laws that conflicted with the administration&#8217;s political goals (such as certain federal drug laws or portions of immigration law) while it targeted political opponents.
The controversial track record included Operation Fast and Furious, where the ATF &#8220;gun-walking&#8221; operation was allowed to proceed. Critics argued the DOJ allowed illegal weapons to flow into Mexico to build a public political case for stricter domestic gun control laws. When Congress launched an investigation into the botched operation, Holder refused to hand over documents, leading the House of Representatives to hold him in contempt of Congress.
Rather than demanding transparency, President Obama made the decision to invoke executive privilege to shield Holder.
Furthermore, press freedom advocates and conservative commentators previously raised alarms over the DOJ&#8217;s actions against journalists, including the secret seizure of Associated Press phone records and naming Fox News reporter James Rosen as a &#8220;co-conspirator&#8221; in a leak investigation.
Critics also pointed to electoral policy, claiming the DOJ used civil rights enforcement and voting rights lawsuits to mobilize the Democratic base and block state-level voter ID laws.

MixCollage-17-Aug-2026-08-56-AM-670

Liberal Host Challenges Trump’s AG On His Loyalty, He Doesn’t Take The Bait

Barack Obama

Donald Trump

Eric Holder

Kristen Welker

Three conservative states plan to carry out a rare triple execution Thursday involving men ages 42 to 70, two of whom are convicted of murdering women, and one is convicted of raping and murdering a 5-year-old girl.
For the first time in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/execution-death-penalty-tennessee-alabama-oklahoma-062c601ee0ff9a5f6d7b79045a0cc6b5">over a decade</a>, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Tennessee plan to execute three men by lethal injection on the same day, including a 66-year-old convicted of murdering a motel maid, a 70-year-old guilty of shooting his girlfriend, and a 42-year-old who confessed to the brutal slaying of a young girl he paid her mother to abuse. 
The United States has not executed three men on the same day since January 7, 2010, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/execution-death-penalty-tennessee-alabama-oklahoma-062c601ee0ff9a5f6d7b79045a0cc6b5">Associated Press</a>. 
In Alabama, Jeremy Williams, 42, is scheduled to die Thursday evening for the 2021 rape and murder of 5-year-old Kamarie Holland, whose disappearance sparked a desperate search-and-rescue effort, <a href="https://www.wtvm.com/2026/08/13/jeremy-williams-set-execution-murder-5-year-old-kamarie-holland/">according to WTVM</a>. 
Phone records determined that Williams and the child&#8217;s mother, Kristy Siple, conspired the night before the 5-year-old was reported missing on December 13, 2021. Siple sold her daughter to Williams for $2,500 in exchange for one hour of oral sex. Police found the child’s strangled body dumped outside an abandoned home. 
A jury found Williams guilty on all capital murder charges, and a judge sentenced him to death. Williams later waived his appeals, allowing Republican Governor Kay Ivey to move up his execution date. The child’s mother is serving 20 years in prison for human sex trafficking charges, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/08/06/alabama-execution-jeremy-williams-kamarie-holland/91191606007/">according to USA Today</a>. 
“This guy brought a tremendous amount of pain and hurt to several, several little girls, and he don’t deserve to breathe the air that you and I breathe,” Sheriff Heath Taylor told <a href="https://www.wjtv.com/news/regional-news/5-year-old-kamarie-holland-was-not-the-only-victim-brutalized-by-alabama-death-row-inmate-jeremy-williams/">WJTV</a>. “And that’s just the way I feel.”
In Tennessee, Anthony Darrell Hines, 66, was scheduled to be executed at 10 a.m. local time Thursday at a maximum-security prison in Nashville for the 1985 murder of motel maid Catherine Jean Jenkins, according to local outlet WZTV. A jury convicted Hines of first-degree felony murder after Jenkins was found naked, wrapped in a sheet, inside a motel room. Hines stabbed Jenkins multiple times in the chest and other areas of the body. 
Earlier this week, Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Lee refused to intervene to stop the execution.  
“After deliberate consideration of Anthony Darrell Hines’ request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene,” he <a href="https://fox17.com/news/local/tennessee-governor-bill-lee-declines-clemency-darrell-hines-execution-august-13-tony-carruthers-physician-lethal-injection">said</a>. 
In Oklahoma, Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, is set to die by <a href="https://apnews.com/article/execution-nitrogen-methods-lethal-52d43ab3f7da0e4c05144328be656854">lethal injection</a> at the state’s penitentiary for killing his longtime girlfriend more than 20 years ago. Rodriguez shot Olimpia Fisher in the eye in 2003 at the couple’s Oklahoma City home in what police described as a “gruesome and chaotic” scene, <a href="https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-carlos-cuesta-rodriguez-execution/73423160">according to KOCO.</a> 
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-1 in July against clemency, which Cuesta-Rodriguez told members he did not want.
&#8220;Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez violently assaulted and murdered an innocent mother,&#8221; Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement to <a href="https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-carlos-cuesta-rodriguez-execution/73423160">KOCO</a>. &#8220;Olimpia’s family has endured heartbreak for 23 years. Justice will be served when the death penalty is carried out.&#8221;
In July, Florida became the first state in nearly a decade to conduct two executions in a single day as Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration continues to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-state-set-to-carry-out-rare-double-executions-on-same-day">move on death penalty</a> cases at an unprecedented rate.
In April, President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice directed the Bureau of Prisons to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-commuted-death-sentences-trumps-doj-is-bringing-back-the-firing-squad?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Biden+Commuted+Death+Sentences.+Trump%E2%80%99s+DOJ+Is+Bringing+Back+The+Firing+Squad.">bring back the firing squad and lethal injection</a> for federal executions.

Kamarie-Holland-Kristy-Siple-Jeremy-Williams-tout-3b47578fe6da473d8f2a55805332201b

Red States Set To Carry Out Rare Same-Day Triple Execution

Alabama

american south

Crime

Death Penalty

Firing squad

lethal injection

Oklahoma

Southern States

Tennessee

the south

Podcaster Chuck Todd melted down over the Senate’s confirmation of Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general, claiming — without providing evidence — that Republicans who voted for him have inflicted damage on America that will take “decades” to fix.
“I do not think he understands the distinction between being the lawyer for Donald John Trump and the lawyer for the people,” Todd said of Blanche. “This is damage that&#8217;s going to take decades to get out of, and this confirmation has just made the project of fixing America a lot harder and a lot longer.&#8221;
Todd, a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-nbc-host-says-hell-never-enter-a-room-with-trump-in-it-again">longtime Trump critic</a> and former host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” argued that Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and John Cornyn (R-TX) had caved to pressure from people to whom he referred as “Trump’s goons.”
“I know the reality that they live in. I have empathy personally. These people are terrible. The Trump goons come after anybody that stands in their way, and goons is the way to call them. I understand the incoming that they&#8217;re receiving, and they just want to go into retirement, and they&#8217;re in their 60s and 70s, and they don&#8217;t want to do this. It&#8217;s exhausting, and then after they leave, they will tell us how terrible it is,” he lamented on his podcast.
Over the weekend, the U.S. Senate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-confirms-todd-blanche-as-attorney-general-in-razor-thin-late-night-vote">confirmed</a> Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as the nation’s attorney general following a drawn-out process marked by political bargaining and divisions within the Republican Party.
The chamber voted 50-49, with two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — joining Democrats in opposing Blanche’s nomination. Collins said her vote stemmed from her belief that the Justice Department “has become increasingly political.”
“Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation,” she said in a <a href="https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/senator-collins-statement-on-nomination-of-todd-blanche-to-serve-as-attorney-general">statement</a> earlier this week.
Cornyn, working with Tillis, exacted a major concession from the Trump administration in exchange for their votes: kill the proposed $1.8 billion <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senator-scorned-by-trump-threatens-to-hold-ag-nominee-hostage-over-weaponization-fund">“anti-weaponization” fund</a> that drew bipartisan backlash and never materialized.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who had also voiced strong concerns about Blanche, ultimately fell in line, providing the pivotal vote.
“Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this,” Cassidy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/todd-blanche-gets-guarantee-from-key-senator-on-confirmation-vote">said</a>. “But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump, and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche.”
That rationale angered Chuck Todd, who argued Senate Republicans have repeatedly appeased Trump on issues ranging from January 6th, public health, and the rule of law.
“But at the end of the day, they didn&#8217;t have the guts to do this when it mattered. Look, they have to sleep at night. I don&#8217;t know if they will be able to,” Todd said. “What&#8217;s the point of advice and consent? All you&#8217;re going to do is consent. And consent. I guess we should call it advice and capitulate, because that&#8217;s what this feels like–a capitulation.”

Meet the Press – Season 76

Chuck Todd Melts Down Over Blanche, Says GOP Senators Fear Trump’s ‘Goons’

bill Cassidy

Chuck Todd

Department of Justice

John Cornyn

News

Politics

Republicans

Thom Tillis

U.S. Senate

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced Friday that he will vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, likely securing President Donald Trump’s nominee enough Republican support to take over the Justice Department permanently.
Cassidy’s decision came after Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/second-gop-senator-comes-out-against-blanche-confirmation">announced</a> they would oppose Blanche’s nomination, raising questions about whether the former Trump defense attorney could secure enough votes in the narrowly divided Senate.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Cassidy said he had spent days reviewing Blanche’s record, speaking with the nominee, fellow senators, current and former Justice Department officials, and former Attorney General William Barr before reaching his conclusion.
“Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this,” Cassidy said. “But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump, and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche.”
Cassidy said his decision was not an endorsement of Trump’s broader approach to the Justice Department, but rather a judgment about whether Blanche would be able to effectively lead the agency and provide legal counsel to the president. “This is not a referendum on President Trump,” Cassidy said. “It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances.”
The Louisiana senator acknowledged several concerns surrounding Blanche’s nomination, including his involvement in a proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund created as part of a settlement involving President Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS, as well as an agreement that initially provided broad protections from tax audits for Trump and his businesses.
Cassidy said Blanche’s role in approving those measures reflected “poor judgment,” but argued the nominee had taken steps to address the concerns, including rescinding the proposed fund and clarifying the scope of the tax agreement. “No American should be unfairly targeted by the law, but no American should be above the law,” Cassidy said.
The senator also raised broader concerns about what he described as “apparent lawfare,” warning that the Justice Department’s use of prosecutions against political opponents has damaged public trust. “Both parties, presidents of both parties, have been guilty of this,” Cassidy said. “It must stop. It should stop now.”
However, Cassidy said he ultimately concluded that a confirmed attorney general would have more authority to resist inappropriate political pressure than an acting official. 
“I am told that Senate confirmation is important in interactions with the President, with others in the Cabinet, and is important to DOJ employees in general,” Cassidy said. “Being Senate confirmed gives them greater leverage to push for things that should be pushed forward.”
Cassidy pointed to Blanche’s previous work as a federal prosecutor, his management of Justice Department priorities, and his support among U.S. attorneys as evidence that he could lead the agency effectively.
He specifically cited conversations with two Louisiana U.S. attorneys, who Cassidy said praised Blanche’s focus on violent crime, drug trafficking, fraud enforcement, and providing resources to federal prosecutors.
The announcement came after Murkowski and Collins broke with the Republican majority to oppose Blanche’s confirmation. 
“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” Murkowski said. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”
Collins expressed similar concerns, citing Blanche’s involvement in the IRS settlement, the proposed anti-weaponization fund, and what she viewed as threats to Justice Department independence. With Cassidy’s support, Blanche appears positioned to overcome the opposition from Murkowski and Collins and become the second confirmed attorney general of Trump’s second administration.
Cassidy, who lost his 2026 Republican primary after Trump endorsed his challenger, acknowledged that his vote would draw criticism. “I’ll be criticized for this vote,” Cassidy said, briefly becoming emotional during his remarks. “What’s new?”
“I have a history with Mr. Trump,” Cassidy said. “But that history does not matter one bit.”

Bill Cassidy

Todd Blanche Gets Guarantee From Key Senator On Confirmation Vote

Congress

justice department

Republican Party

Senate

Senate GOP

Senate Republicans

U.S.

WASHINGTON—Connecticut Children&#8217;s Medical Center has entered an agreement with the Justice Department not to perform transgender procedures on children, The Daily Wire can first report.
The move comes as part of the Justice Department&#8217;s nationwide effort to end transgender pediatric programs, building on President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order ending federal support for such procedures on children.
Connecticut Children&#8217;s agreed not to perform &#8220;sex-rejecting procedures on minors,&#8221; including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries, according to documents shared with The Daily Wire. The hospital also agreed to pay a monetary penalty and, significantly, to &#8220;dedicate&#8221; $500,000 in medical care for detransitioners, people living through the mental and physical aftereffects of so-called &#8220;gender-affirming care.&#8221;
“The Department of Justice will stop at nothing to protect America’s children,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “This resolution is a reminder to hospitals, medical providers, and pharmaceutical companies that the Justice Department will vigorously enforce federal law, especially where the lives of children are endangered.”
Over the past five years, many young people have come forward with tragic stories of the mental and physical anguish that attempted gender transition procedures have caused them. The Trump administration argues that these procedures are incredibly harmful to minors, and that medical professionals promoting them are harming children.
The DOJ previously reached similar agreements with Texas Children&#8217;s Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. The Justice Department specifically praised the latter hospital for taking &#8220;significant steps&#8221; to help the DOJ with its investigation, remaining &#8220;cooperative, proactive, and solution-driven&#8221; throughout the process. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation also committed to giving financial restorative care to victims, the DOJ said.
The DOJ&#8217;s Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, Brett Shumate, vowed that the agency &#8220;cannot and will not rest in our pursuit of justice for the victims of these discredited practices,&#8221; calling the agreements between the DOJ and the hospitals encouraging.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould promised that the DOJ will &#8220;act swiftly and decisively&#8221; to protect children from &#8220;unsafe medical practices&#8221; that violate federal law.
The president&#8217;s executive order directed the DOJ to review how it enforces Section 116 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code on genital mutilation, to convene attorneys general and other law enforcement to enforce this law, to promote legislation enacting a private right of action for kids and their parents who have endured these harmful practices, and, among other actions, to &#8220;prioritize investigations and take appropriate action to end child-abusive practices by so-called sanctuary States that facilitate stripping custody from parents who support the healthy development of their own children, including by considering the application of the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act and recognized constitutional rights.&#8221;

US-JUSTICE-POLITICS-EPSTEIN

EXCLUSIVE: Blue State Hospital Bows To DOJ, Ends Trans Procedures For Kids

Connecticut

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, clearing a major hurdle in his bid to become the nation&#8217;s permanent attorney general after senators voted along party lines, 12-10, to send his nomination to the full Senate.
The committee vote came after weeks of scrutiny over Blanche&#8217;s tenure as acting attorney general and his previous role as President Donald Trump&#8217;s personal defense attorney. Senate Republicans are now expected to move toward a confirmation vote before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess. 
A Senate Republican source told The Daily Wire that leadership&#8217;s goal is to hold a confirmation vote before senators depart Washington later this week.
The nomination drew heightened attention in recent weeks as several Republican senators sought additional assurances from Blanche on issues ranging from the Justice Department&#8217;s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation to the administration&#8217;s abandoned &#8220;Anti-Weaponization Fund.&#8221;
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX), who had previously withheld their support while negotiating with the Justice Department over the fund, ultimately voted to advance Blanche after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/key-gop-holdouts-agree-to-back-todd-blanche-for-attorney-general">receiving written commitments</a> that the department would formally rescind the Anti-Weaponization Fund. Tillis had also pressed Blanche to meet personally with victims connected to Jeffrey Epstein and work with lawmakers to ensure the controversial fund could not be revived.
Cornyn said the agreement provided the assurances he had been seeking. 
&#8220;They&#8217;ve been consistent about their assertion on behalf of the United States of America that the weaponization fund is dead, and of course I expect them to live up to that in any future litigation,&#8221; Cornyn said. &#8220;Given this agreement with Mr. Blanche, I expect the department to live up to this in future litigation, and I will vote to advance him out of the committee today.&#8221; Cornyn also argued that confirming a permanent attorney general would provide stability for the Justice Department.
Democrats remained unanimously opposed to Blanche&#8217;s nomination, arguing he would be unwilling to act independently from President Donald Trump. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said Blanche had failed to demonstrate he would be willing to stand up to the president when necessary. 
&#8220;Throughout the decades since the Watergate crisis, both parties have consistently recognized the importance of an attorney general who can and will stand up to the president and say no, and serve as an attorney general in defense of the Constitution, not just the agenda of any one president,&#8221; Coons said. &#8220;Will acting Attorney General Blanche meet that standard? We have clear evidence he will not.&#8221;
Coons also argued that Blanche&#8217;s agreement to eliminate the Anti-Weaponization Fund was insufficient, saying nothing would prevent him from reinstating it after confirmation.
The committee&#8217;s top Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), focused much of his criticism on the Justice Department&#8217;s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Durbin accused Blanche of overseeing efforts to review the files for references to Trump and criticized the department&#8217;s release of documents containing identifying information about Epstein survivors while, he argued, shielding powerful associates. 
&#8220;Mr. Blanche refused to tell me who gave this order, but former Attorney General Bondi made it clear, saying Blanche was in charge of the Epstein files,&#8221; Durbin said. Durbin also criticized Blanche&#8217;s recent meeting with Epstein survivors, calling it a &#8220;box-checking exercise&#8221; and accusing him of refusing to pursue investigative leads suggested by the victims.
Blanche has consistently defended the department&#8217;s handling of the Epstein investigation, arguing the Justice Department has been transparent and remains committed to prosecuting anyone found to have committed crimes connected to Epstein.
Earlier in the confirmation process, Blanche told lawmakers: &#8220;We have been extraordinarily transparent. There are no closed investigations. If we learn today, if we learn next week, if we learn next month that there&#8217;s an individual who we can investigate, indict, and prosecute out of the Epstein files, you better believe that we will.&#8221;
Republicans also questioned Blanche during his confirmation process on issues including mail-order abortion litigation and the Justice Department&#8217;s review of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-republican-senators-make-big-demand-of-todd-blanche-ahead-of-confirmation-vote">D.C. Five case</a> involving five aborted babies recovered from a Washington abortion clinic in 2022.
Earlier this month, more than 50 Republican lawmakers urged Blanche to investigate whether the babies were victims of illegal partial-birth abortions or infanticide. The Justice Department has since said it is reviewing the matter and will investigate any credible allegations of criminal conduct.
President Trump strongly backed Blanche&#8217;s nomination throughout the confirmation process, praising his performance as acting attorney general. &#8220;Todd has done a PHENOMENAL job,&#8221; Trump wrote on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116919780125305335">Truth Social.</a> &#8220;He is tough, brilliant, and 100% LOYAL to our Constitution, and the American People.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Todd Blanche Advances To Full Senate Confirmation Vote After Heated Hearing

Abortion

Epstein Files

Jeffrey Epstein

WASHINGTON — Two key Republican holdouts have agreed to back Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, clearing the path to his confirmation following days of dramatic and public negotiations.
Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas put out a statement on Monday announcing that they had successfully negotiated a &#8220;legally enforceable document,&#8221; gaining <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/todd-blanche-makes-move-to-secure-votes-from-two-gop-holdouts">clarity from Blanche</a> on the &#8220;Anti-Weaponization Fund&#8221; as well as the IRS audit. They thanked Blanche and his team for working with them and said they are looking forward to &#8220;voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon.&#8221;
“From the outset, we were clear that we needed a written document addressing our concerns on the IRS audit agreement and the anti-weaponization fund that included constraining the scope of audit protection by limiting it to the parties of the Settlement Agreement and legally ending the anti-weaponization fund,&#8221; Tillis and Cornyn announced.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_1149345" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/key-gop-holdouts-agree-to-back-todd-blanche-for-attorney-general/texas-sen-cornyn-holds-up-judiciary-committee-confirmation-vote-on-blanche-2" rel="attachment wp-att-1149345"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1149345" class="wp-image-1149345 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2288333545-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2288333545-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2288333545-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2288333545-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2288333545.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) answers questions from reporters trailing after him following a vote in the U.S. Capitol on July 30, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)</div>
“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has issued a formal order terminating the anti-weaponization fund,&#8221; they added. &#8220;Additionally, the Department has acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury, addressing concerns that multiple of our Republican colleagues share.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Tuesday on Blanche&#8217;s confirmation, and a full Senate floor vote is expected later this week.
The news comes after President Donald Trump suggested last week that he might pull Blanche&#8217;s confirmation until the two Republicans blocking his way had departed the Senate.
“Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland, and others, too numerous to mention,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday. “I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office.”
The president described Blanche as a “star” with the “potential to go down as one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time,&#8221; slamming Cornyn and Tillis for refusing to vote for Blanche.
The senators had threatened to derail Blanche’s nomination over the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, a plan the DOJ said it had abandoned after pushback from lawmakers and after a Clinton-appointed judge had issued a temporary restraining order on the fund in May. Last Wednesday, Cornyn told Punchbowl News that the DOJ’s written proposal did not satisfy his demands.
“They know what they need to do, but they simply refuse to do it,” Cornyn said, sharing that he had cancelled a scheduled meeting with Blanche.

Texas Sen. Cornyn Holds Up Judiciary Committee Confirmation Vote On Blanche

Key GOP Holdouts Agree To Back Todd Blanche For Attorney General

A federal jury <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5998412-hadi-matar-guilty-rushdie-stabbing-federal-terrorism/">convicted</a> Hadi Matar of terrorism charges linked to the 2022 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/author-salman-rushdie-loses-use-of-eye-and-hand-after-stabbing-attack">stabbing</a> of author Salman Rushdie. The 28-year-old from Fairview, New Jersey, was found guilty of attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah, engaging in an act of terrorism that crossed national boundaries, and providing material support to terrorists, the Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-jury-convicts-new-jersey-man-terrorism-offenses-relating-his-attempted-murder-salman">announced </a>earlier this week.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said, “Matar spent more than a year immersing himself in Hezbollah’s violent ideology and preparing to act on a fatwa issued by Iran’s Ayatollahs calling for Mr. Rushdie’s murder.”
“His brutal attack on Mr. Rushdie during a peaceful speaking event is a chilling reminder of the global reach of Iranian terrorism. With today’s verdict, justice has been done, and Matar will pay for his crimes,&#8221; Eisenberg added.
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo for the Western District of New York said that &#8220;Matar, who was born and raised in the United States, chose to align his values with the terroristic values of the leaders of Iran, which often promote violence, and in this case, the call for murder.”
DiGiacomo said Matar spent months preparing to kill Rushdie and hoped to emulate radical Islamic terrorists he looked up to. The attack did not succeed. Rushdie survived the stabbing after members of the public and law enforcement jumped into action.
The attack occurred on August 12, 2022, when Matar charged Rushdie and stabbed him in the neck just before the author spoke at the Chautauqua Institution in Mayville, New York. Rushdie’s injuries proved more severe and required him to be placed on a ventilator. The co-moderator of the event was also wounded.
Evidence presented by the government shows Matar researched the fatwa for more than a year, checking whether it remained in force, before he decided to act on it. The fatwa was originally issued in 1989 by Iran&#8217;s former Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, endorsed in a 2006 speech by Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, and later reaffirmed in 2017 by then-Supreme Leader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ali-khamenei">Ali Khamenei,</a> who was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes earlier this year.
Before the attack, Matar discussed the fatwa and Hezbollah’s endorsement of it with people in Iran, Australia, and Canada. He constructed videos with titles such as Rushdie_Fatwa 2.0 and Rushdie_Fatwa 1.6 that combined footage about the fatwa with Nasrallah’s 2006 remarks. He also surrounded himself with symbols of Hezbollah martyrs. 
Matar used a false identity to reach the event that Rushdie was speaking at in August 2022. He traveled as Hassan Mughniyeh and carried a counterfeit driver’s license under that name. The first name came from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The last name came from Imad Mughniyeh, who once led the terror group’s external security operations.
The Justice Department noted that Matar faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. Sentencing is set for November 3 before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. 
This federal case follows Matar’s earlier state <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sentence-is-in-for-american-who-stabbed-novelist-salman-rushdie">conviction</a>. In May 2025, he received the maximum 25-year sentence for second-degree attempted murder, plus a concurrent seven-year term for the assault on event moderator Henry Reese.
After the state sentencing, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said the attack continues to affect Rushdie. Schmidt described the author as traumatized and said he still has nightmares about the stabbing. Schmidt called it a serious setback for a man who had begun to reenter public life in his later years after long periods of hiding because of the fatwa.
The federal conviction centers on the terrorism related counts tied directly to the same attack. Matar will next face sentencing on those charges in November.

Hadi Matar

Jury Finds Salman Rushdie Attacker Guilty Of Helping Hezbollah

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Hezbollah

Salman Rushdie

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he might pull the confirmation of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche until two Republicans blocking Blanche&#8217;s confirmation have departed the Senate.
Blanche would remain as acting attorney general, the president shared on Thursday morning, slamming Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) for refusing to vote for Blanche.
Cornyn and Tillis have expressed apprehensions about Blanche, saying they would not vote to confirm Trump&#8217;s DOJ appointee until their concerns have been addressed.
Two sources familiar with the matter told The Daily Wire on Thursday evening that the DOJ had submitted a written response to both senators that addressed their concerns. But Trump&#8217;s post on Thursday morning indicated the response had not been good enough — and that he&#8217;d figure out another way to circumvent the senators.
<div id="attachment_1147257" style="width: 805px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-threatens-to-pull-blanche-nomination-until-problematic-gop-senators-depart/acting-attorney-general-todd-blanche-testifies-to-senate-judiciary-committee-at-his-confirmation-hearing-2" rel="attachment wp-att-1147257"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1147257" class="wp-image-1147257 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2286226821-1-795x576.jpg" alt="" width="795" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2286226821-1-795x576.jpg 795w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2286226821-1-300x217.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2286226821-1-768x557.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2286226821-1.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 795px) 100vw, 795px" /></a>Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears at his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill July 15, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland, and others, too numerous to mention,&#8221; Trump said in a Truth Social post. &#8220;I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office.&#8221;
The president described Blanche as a &#8220;star&#8221; with the &#8220;potential to go down as one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time.&#8221; Trump also criticized Cornyn and Tillis for refusing to vote for Blanche, saying he had destroyed their political careers.
Cornyn had threatened to derail Blanche&#8217;s nomination over the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, a plan the DOJ said it had abandoned after pushback from lawmakers. On Wednesday, Cornyn told Punchbowl News that the DOJ&#8217;s written proposal did not satisfy his demands.
“They know what they need to do, but they simply refuse to do it,” Cornyn said, sharing that he had cancelled a scheduled meeting with Blanche.
After Clinton-appointed Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a temporary restraining order on the Anti-Weaponization Fund on May 29, Justice Department officials ultimately complied and dropped the matter.
“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,&#8221; Blanche testified at the time.
Trump tore into the Republicans who opposed the fund, telling the Daily Caller&#8217;s Reagan Reese from the Oval Office: “Well, Congress didn’t want it. You have to talk to Congress. The Republican senators, some of them, got very weak knees. They didn’t have the stomach for the fight.”

Jury Selection Continues In Former President Donald Trump’s New York Hush Money Trial

Trump Threatens To Pull Blanche Nomination Until Problematic GOP Senators Depart

Menu

DOJ